U.S. and Russian Forces Have Clashed Repeatedly in Syria, US Envoy Says

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American and Russian forces have clashed a dozen times in Syria - sometimes with exchanges of fire - a U.S. envoy told Russian journalists in a wide-ranging interview this week.

Ambassador James Jeffrey, U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement, offered no specifics about the incidents on Wednesday, speaking to the Russian newspaper Kommersant and state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.

Jeffrey had been asked to clarify casualty numbers and details of a February firefight in which U.S. forces reportedly killed up to 200 pro-Syrian regime forces, including Russian mercenaries, who had mounted a failed attack on a base held by the U.S. and its mostly Kurdish local allies near the town of Deir al-Zour. None of the Americans at the outpost — reportedly about 40 — had been killed or injured.

Jeffrey declined to offer specifics on that incident, but said it was not the only such confrontation between Americans and Russians…